Gateway Finals Draft: Illuminati vs. Outland 2

Victor van den Broek

As Illuminati sat down for the final draft of the Masters Gateway Alex Shvarstman commented that his team has been hunting the elusive Team Masters invite for the last two years only to have it jump out of their sights at the last possible moment. Two years ago Alex, Justin Gary, and Zvi Mowshowitz lost in the Finals of Pro Tour New York and they lost in the finals of Grand Prix New Jersey last June.

Standing in their way is Team Outland 2 consisting of Lovre Crnobori, Oyvind Odegaard, and Endre Skejetne. They are hoping for an Outland sweep in the Gateway with their predecessors facing off against Team Shop Fireball one table over.

Iluminati won the die roll and elected to open first—willing to throw away early picks to allow their opponents settle into their colors first and then implement reactive strategies. Zvi (Seat B) and Alex (Seat C) took Pacifism and Stag Beetle—respectively—giving Outland a generous selection of red and black cards. Lovre (Seat A) took a Cabal Archon hoping for the cleric deck. Endre (Seat B) was more than happy to take Pinpoint Avalanche and leave Solar Blast for a tickled Oyvind. Justin (Seat A) got a couple of expensive soldiers on the wheel in Grassland Crusader and Crowd Favorites.

A number of players qualified for the Masters were scouting the potential competition. Marco Blume and Bob Maher Jr. were both audibly surprised that Illuminati allowed Outland to set up two red drafters with the first pack. When Endre opened Riptide Shapeshifter to follow up last pack's Butcher Orgg Bob groaned, "It's like watching a car crash!" Oyvind grabbed a Prowling Pangolin considering R/B. Justin continued to dabble with blue and took Ascending Aven. Weathered Wayfarer found its way to the top of Zvi's pile and Alex supported Wirewood Pride and Lovre wheeled a Choking Tethers and Barren Moor.

As the first round of packs came to a conclusion all of the players were settling into their colors. Justin was clearly U/R with the most important component needed for the archetype. Zvi was shaping up B/W and Alex looked to be G/R. Lovre had been B/W clerics from his first pick, Endre was R/X possibly U/R as well, and Oyvind was shaping up to be either G/R or B/R.

Whatever credibility Outland had built up with Masters players went out the window with their last open in Onslaught. Lovre took a Tribal Golem over Slice and Dice—a mistake that could push Justin's deck over the top. Alex took another Barkhide Mauler and Zvi took a Buzzard leaving the unexpected 'Wrath" to a beaming Justin.

I asked each player about how they felt about the match ups and Zvi was predictably excited. "They didn't realize I was generating a soldier deck in the third pack!" Zvi was spreading out his triple Deftblade Elite, triple Piety Charm, and double Daru Stinger deck.

Endre: "I have a lot of good cards but the match-up is not a good one for me. I need to survive the early game—black is the best color against U/R especially Wretched Anurid and small soldiers. I was able to lower my curve in the third pack when I saw what he was doing."

Oyvind interrupts: "HE HAS SKILLS!!! He has Lavamancer's Skills which should be your top worry!"

Oyvind: "My match-up is a mirror so...The best cards in his deck are Timberwatch Elves, Wellwisher, Sparksmith, and Stag Beetle. I have larger beasts so I think the game will stall out and whoever draws the gamebreaking cards will win."